Lots of young artists come to Nashville to seek their musical fortunes. Dustin Lynch’s plans were more focused. He wanted to come to a specific part of Nashville — specifically, as close as he could get to the Bluebird Café so that he could hear and learn from the best songwriters in town as often as possible.

One day after his arrival, Lynch auditioned to play the Bluebird’s open-mic night the following evening. His performance so impressed host Barbara Cloyd that she offered to introduce him around the community. Not long after that, Peter Hartung, head of L3Entertainment and manager to Justin Moore, engineered a publishing deal for him. Word spread quickly of Lynch’s talent; in less than two years, he finished more than 200 songs.

With his self-titled debut album on Broken Bow Records, another side of his talent emerges. Lynch’s vocals enhance his fine-tuned writing on 10 of these tracks — and the craftsmanship of those who penned the remaining three. The first single, “Cowboys and Angels” (Lynch, Josh Leo and Tim Nichols), is built on an image-rich lyric, which flows out conversationally through verses a relaxed 7/8 and then opens wide over a spacious backbeat on the choruses.

The rest of Dustin Lynch conveys this same combination of understated but expressive singing, strong composition and lyrics with an unusual, dreamy depth. Even his upbeat study in down-home double entendre, “She Cranks My Tractor” (Lynch, Brett Beavers and Nichols), conjures vivid visuals, both pristine and suggestive. But the last track, “Your Plan,” written by Lynch alone, confirms that he also possesses the courage to write honestly and the insight to find inspiration within.